They had finally gotten into the groove of living in Singapore after moving there from Kingwood for Raymond Guillory’s job.

It was almost a year ago when the family was planning a special trip during their holiday when they had to make the decision to move back to Kingwood after their son, James, was first diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

“We first made the decision to move to Singapore in 2011 for my husband’s work,” Nellie said. “We had a routine and even made the decision to continue living as expatriates, or expats, in Singapore because of the travel and learning opportunities for our family.”

In the summer of 2012, one of James’ teachers approached the Guillorys with concerns about a few developmental delays and they realized that James had barely grown an inch in a year.

At first, James’ parents thought maybe his growth was because of genetics but after much thought, they decided to bring him to an endocrinologist at Texas Children’s Hospital during their next visit home.

The Guillorys returned back to Singapore but something did not sit right with Nellie. She decided to take James to see a second endocrinologist working in Singapore.

“After a lot of testing, the doctors discovered that James’ liver enzymes were very elevated and it required more testing,” Nellie said.

Numerous tests and evaluations later, the doctors measured how much Creatine phosphokinase which is known as CPK was in James’ blood which led to their initial diagnosis of DMD.

“We were blindsided by this diagnosis; there was no history of this in our family,” Nellie said. “This is every parents’ nightmare. We felt homesick after they told us James was sick. We wanted to come back home for his treatment and be with our family.”

The Guillory family moved back to the Kingwood area but they were in for another shock.

James’ doctors determined that he actually had Becker's Muscular Dystrophy which is less severe but still a serious disease.

Both Nellie and Raymond are preparing to participate in the Full Chevron Houston Marathon in January 2014 to raise money for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and encourage any donations from the community.

“For nine months James and our family lived with the DMD diagnosis, experiencing only a fraction of the emotional and physical devastation that it carries along with it,” Nellie said on their fundraising website. “We have a long journey ahead of us but we are thankful for the support we have received and continue to receive. We could not do this without our friends and family. We still have a long journey ahead of us but we will continue to fight.”